The three Baudelaire children, now behind the gate and ready to investigate this possible hiding place, walked up the grass covered stone pathway behind the gate to the hotel. After they walked about 30 feet or so, they came to a huge, elaborate stone archway in front of the hotel that was covered in vines. Underneath this archway on a tiled pathway was an old marble fountain that no longer ran water and was filled with dead leaves and wilting flower petals.
"Wow, it sure was beautiful." Violet said as she ran her fingers along the pillars of the archway.
"Yeah, it looked like it was a very beautiful, prosperous hotel." Klaus said, looking into the dried up fountain.
Sunny, who was trying to nibble at an old marble statue off to the side, squealed "Meesoo!" which probably meant "I would have definitely liked to spend a vacation here at this hotel."
Violet walked along the tile walkway just outside the hotel, marveling at the once beautiful decorative trim on the building which was now peeling away and rusting. She thought of how great the hotel must have been before it was condemned, how many people must have stayed here and had a wonderful time. "I bet even famous people stayed here as well." she said to herself as she looked at the cracked, dusty windows lining the outside wall. As she tried to peek into the hotel through one of the windows, she heard Klaus call out "Violet, come here. I think I found a way in!"
Violet ran around the corner of the building and found Klaus standing in front of huge double doors, holding Sunny in one arm and the suitcases in the other. "These are obviously the main doors, but they're locked." he said, setting down the suitcases and jiggling one of them with his free hand. "You still got that pen?" he asked Violet.
"Yeah, I do. Hold on a minute." she said and stuck the pen inside the keyhole on one of the doors. She jiggled the pen for a few seconds before she heard a click sound, indicating the door was now unlocked. Violet looked at her brother and sister and asked them "Are you ready to do this?"
"Yeah I'm ready." Klaus said. "I wanna get Sunny out of the storm before she gets too scared." With that, Violet pushed open the two double doors and the Baudelaires were greeted with the sight of a beautiful, yet deserted and dirty hotel lobby.
The children were just taken aback at the site of this elaborate lobby. As Violet closed the doors behind them, she was in awe at what she saw. "Oh my god, this is so pretty." she gasped in amazement.
Klaus and Sunny didn't respond to her comment, but both were pretty much thinking the same thing: The lobby was absolutely gorgeous. Dust covered, but gorgeous. A huge statue of an owl stood in the center of the lobby. Two magenta satin-covered sofas stood in front of an elaborately decorated fireplace. Above the fireplace hung a satin tapestry with the Hollywood Tower Hotel logo on it. The carpeting was of a beautiful, elaborate, oriental type design. Small lamps hung on decorative pillars. An old sign advertised a show playing at the hotel's Tip Top Club. There was even an abandoned mah jongg game right pass the doors. The children were in awe at all of this. Finally, after a long silence, Klaus turned to Violet and said "You know, I think we're gonna be pretty comfortable here." Violet smiled at her brother, finally feeling like something would go right in their otherwise unfortunate lives. Sunny even clapped her hands together and grinned at her brother and sister, she was definitely ready to start exploring the lobby herself.